


Bottled Up

by CaptainMonochrome



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Protective Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 11:37:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20873588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainMonochrome/pseuds/CaptainMonochrome
Summary: Danny vanished, and they never found out what happened. Everyone tried to move on. After graduating college, Jazz comes home to Amity and makes a discovery about what really happened four years ago.





	Bottled Up

So! I wrote this years ago for Angst Day and then never posted it anywhere. I saw someone talking about Angst Day again recently and decided to go ahead and put it up. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Jazz stepped into the door of her old home, looking around at the familiar walls with bittersweet nostalgia. Behind her, Jack bustled with her bags and clapped her on the back, shaking her out of her reverie.

“Welcome back home, Jazzy-pants! Excited to live with your folks again?”

Jazz rolled her eyes and stepped out of the way, allowing her parents to carry her luggage into the kitchen.

“It’s only temporary - don’t forget!”

“Oh, we know, honey! It’s still so much fun to have you back home! It’s kind of lonely…”

She trailed off, and for a moment the three family members were quiet, remembering the fourth member who was absent. 

“So how have things been? Are Sam and Tucker nervous?” Jazz quickly changed the subject.

She knew how Sam and Tucker were doing. They talked at least every week, if not more often. But she needed to change the topic before she allowed the sadness to take hold.

“Oh, you know those kids! Nothing phases them. Tucker’s itching to head to MIT, and Sam acts like she could care less, but I know she’s excited about college too,” Maddie chirped, gratefully latching onto the new subject.

“Speaking of colleges - Maddie, why don’t you tell Jazz the news?”

Jazz’s eyebrows sprang up, “News?”

Maddie waved a hand, “Oh, it’s nothing, really.”

Jack grabbed Maddie by the shoulders, throwing his free hand in the air as if outlining some invisible flashing sign, “You’re mom’s going to be a professor of Ectology!”

“What! Mom, you’re going to teach?”

“We’re going to be guest lecturers at a few colleges next fall. It’s really not a big a deal as your father makes it out to be.”

“It is a big deal! Soon everyone will know the name Fenton, and the truth about ghosts!”

Jazz rubbed her arm awkwardly, knowing full well what her parents thought the truth about ghosts was. When Phantom had vanished, they celebrated while the rest of the town mourned. 

Of course, their celebration didn’t last long when they realized Phantom wasn’t the only one missing.

Sensing her discomfort, Maddie turned back to Jazz’s bags.

“Here, let’s get these to your room so you can get settled! I’ll get dinner started.”

“Yay! I’m starving!” Jack exclaimed, scooping up almost all of the bags and running up the stairs. 

Finally, all her things had been deposited in her room and her parents were busy downstairs. She had a moment to breath and collect her thoughts.

It was more painful than she had expected, coming home. The house still felt empty.

She sat on her bed and dug a familiar scrapbook out of her suitcase, indulging herself in fond memories. When she was away from home, it was easier to detach herself from the sadness and loss, but here, in this town, in this house, she knew she couldn’t push it away anymore.

Slowly she flipped through the pages she had so carefully crafted all those years ago, eyes lingering on pictures of her brother and his ghostly alter-ego. Rescuing school kids, catching criminals, defeating ghosts - all with that goofy, smug smile on his face.

Suddenly something wet spattered on the page, and she brushed a hand against her cheek to find she was crying. Wiping away tears and trying to calm her shuddering breaths, she tucked the scrapbook away and crept to the door.

She could hear her parents talking downstairs, as well as the clang of pans and sizzle of something frying. Quietly as she could, she made her way down the hall to Danny’s room.

Everything was the same as it had been four years ago. NASA posters on the wall. Comic books on his desk. His backpack was still slumped in the corner. 

She sat at his desk and opened the drawer, lifting up the bottom to reveal a tiny secret space beneath. It was still there. She thought Sam or Tucker might have taken it, but she guessed they didn’t really have as much reason as Danny to map the Ghost Zone. It wasn’t like they were going to be flying around willy nilly in the strange, green world. That world belonged to ghosts. 

She unfolded the map, Danny’s handwriting scrawled beneath islands and doorways, labeling the otherworldly locations with dedication. There were several locations he had drawn, and never labeled. And much of the map was still blank. 

She briefly entertained the idea of finishing it for him, but then dismissed it. She needed to move on. Sam and Tucker were moving on. Mom and Dad, too. 

Danny was gone. 

This map would never be finished.

She went to tuck it back into the drawer’s secret space, but instead she clutched it in her hand. She could add it to the scrap book. She left his desk and fell onto his bed, burying her face in his pillow. She breathed in deeply - his scent still lingered, if only faintly. 

She knew she was walking a fine line here. It was fine to recall fond memories and revel in nostalgia, but she didn’t want to sink into the dark place she had been trying so hard to escape. 

It was just so hard, not knowing what happened. 

One day, he was there. They next, he was gone. 

He went out to fight ghosts one night, and he never came back. 

There were no witnesses that night that saw any ghost fights. There had been ghost attacks, but no black and white clad hero had swooped in to stop them. Instead her parents had rushed to the scene, managing to take the ghost down after a long struggle.

Jazz, Sam and Tucker had all pitched in to help, but they were all wondering where Danny was.

Her parents weren’t concerned until the next day, however, when Danny Fenton didn’t show up.

They used all the human methods to search for their son; police, posters, organizing search parties. Of course they captured and interrogated ghosts, thinking a spectre had kidnapped their son.

Jazz, Sam and Tucker searched the Ghost Zone, consulting friendly ghosts such as Frostbite and even enemies like Skulker. But even the Ghost Zone’s greatest hunter couldn’t locate the ghost boy.

They interrogated Vlad, who turned out to be just as flummoxed as they were. 

Even the booomerang turned up nothing.

He was just...gone.

They lived the next year expecting to find him, hoping to find him...then that sort of fizzled out. Eventually they had to learn to accept they might never know what happened. 

Shaking out of her memories, Jazz rolled off the bed and dropped to the floor, turning her thoughts to brighter days. When she and Danny were kids, and ghosts didn’t have any holds on their lives. Even back then, Danny had been obsessed with space. His favorite movies were the Star Wars trilogy, and they would spend long afternoons setting up elaborate stories with his action figures. She lifted up his bed skirt, looking for the familiar plastic tub of Star Wars toys she knew he kept under there. Only there was nothing.

Startled, her heart started to race. Surely mom and dad hadn’t gotten rid of them? What if they had sold them on ebay? Star Wars memorabilia was pretty valuable, after all.

She jogged to the banister and leaned over, shouting.

“Mom, Dad! What did you do with Danny’s old Star Wars toys?”

“Oh, don’t worry - it’s in our room! We’ve been going through some things, trying to organize…”

Her mom shouted back, her voice trailing off once again. That was a habit she picked up after Danny disappeared.

“It’s in our room, Jazzy! Should be in the closet somewhere,” her dad called up.

“Thanks!”

“Dinner will be ready soon - don’t get too busy!”

“I won’t,” she called back, retreating back into her parent’s bedroom.

It was a good thing she had decided to come home - her parents really were organizing. Or as close to organizing as they could get. Stuff had been dragged out of the attic, out of closets, even out of the lab and was stacked in haphazard piles throughout their room.

She had told herself she was only staying a month, if that long. She had thought she’d spend that time searching for jobs, but seeing this mess she thought she would be using every minute of her time helping her parents go through everything - and make sure they didn’t get rid of anything important. The thought was kind of a relief - because honestly, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do from here. She had her degree, but her life seemed aimless. 

She shook herself out of that thought, and focused on the task at hand.

She saw the familiar plastic tub of Star Wars toys in one of the piles, near one of the dangerous-looking piles from the lab. 

“Maybe I should just wait…” she murmured, not wanting to disturb any of the piles. She was about to turn around and leave when something caught her eye.

“Oh, wow. This brings back memories.”

A Fenton Thermos was sitting in one of the stacks - but upon closer inspection, it looked like a different model than the one Danny used to use. Or that she, Sam and Tucker had used afterward. It had a special lock around the lid, disabling the release button. She frowned, picking the thermos up - why would you lock the lid like that, instead of just dumping the ghost back into the ghost zone?

She turned the container over in her hands, eyes catching on a handwritten label taped to the side.

“Subject: Inviso-Bill/ Danny Phantom.”

Her hands started shaking.

This couldn’t be what she thought it was.

Clutching the thermos with cold, pale hands she walked downstairs to find her father setting the table while Maddie took something out of the over.

“Perfect timing, Jazzy! What’s that you got there?”

“I found this in your room,” she said numbly.

“Oh, must be one of the old thermoses from the lab. We’ve been trying to organize all our equipment,” Maddie said, but something in her voice was odd.

Jazz’s grip tightened.

“Why does it say Danny Phantom on the side?”

Maddie let out a sigh, setting the dish on the stove with a clank.

Jack sighed as well, “Well, Jazz, we would have told you earlier, but we knew how much you and Danny liked that ghost kid.”

“But he was still just a ghost, no matter what the rest of the town thought. Honestly, all that fuss they made - and when we were trying to find Danny! We could barely get any news coverage with that stupid ghost taking up all the air time!”

Jazz couldn’t hide her shaking now. She thought she might throw up. 

“Jazz?”

“Mom...Dad...what are you saying?”

“We caught Phantom! Got rid of that ghost menace!” Jack exclaimed.

“But with the town’s delusioned hero-worship, we decided to keep it confidential. Besides, you know what happened after that - we barely had time to think about some ghost when your brother went missing.”

“Did you never think...the two might be related?”

“What are you talking about, hon?”

“Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton went missing at the same time.”

Jack rubbed his chin, “I always thought it was an odd coincidence. But we did our research thoroughly, Jazz, we couldn’t find a connection.”

“All this time...we’ve been searching...wondering where he was...and he was right here…”

“Jazz, what are you saying?”

Jazz brandished the thermos, her weak-knees and nausea becoming overwhelmed with fury.

“Open it! Now!”

“Jazz! You know we can’t do that!”

“Can’t, or won’t?”

“We won’t! Jazzy, be reasonable! That ghost kid was a menace to the city! We’re all better off with him locked up in that thermos,” Jack stated firmly.

Jazz felt hot, angry tears roll down her face. She wanted to scream at her parents, but her rage choked her words out.

“Come on, Jazz. Set the thermos down and let’s talk about this over dinner. I made your favorite,” Maddie said appeasingly, approaching with her hands stretched out towards the thermos. Jazz snatched it protectively to her chest.

“You’re just as bad - no, worse! I can’t believe you’re still so ignorant and oblivious! Of course Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton disappearing at the same time is more than a coincidence! I never told you, I never said anything - I thought I was protecting you from more pain and hurt! I thought it would be useless...if I had just explained it all earlier…”

“Jazz, what are you talking about?”

“Danny was…Danny is right here! He’s Danny Phantom!”

Her parents stared, then passed an uncertain look between them. Clearly, they thought Jazz had lost it.

“There was an accident with the portal, and he got caught up in it - that’s why the portal suddenly started working! It turned him half ghost! That’s why he and Phantom disappeared at the same time - because they’re the same person!”

“Jazz...I didn’t know…” her mother began, “I didn’t realize you had been thinking this way! Look, Danny’s disappearance has been...hard, on all of us. We’ve all wondered what happened to him. Heck, I’ve thought up some pretty crazy scenarios myself,” her voice cracked slightly, “But Danny’s not in that thermos.”

Her parents looked at her with….pity. 

“You...you don’t believe me.”

“Dear, Danny wasn’t a ghost - that’s impossible.”   
“We would know if our own son was a ghost!”

Jazz backed away, “You don’t believe me.”

“Jazz, I know...we try not to talk about it. But maybe us avoiding talking about Danny is what brought this on. But we can talk about it. We need to talk about it.”

“No! We need. To open. This. Thermos!” Jazz shouted, and tried prying the lid off. When that didn’t work, she started banging it against the table.

“Hey!” Jack shouted, and tried to snatch it out of her hands. She quickly dodged, grabbing her keys and running towards the door.

“Jazz! Wait!”

“I’m going to save Danny, even if you won’t!” she shouted, clutching the thermos - her brother, to her chest and pounding across the sidewalk. By the time her parents reached the door she was in her car, peeling away from the curb and down the street.

She didn’t know if they were following, she didn’t really care. All she could think about was Danny, finally in her reach again.

Hitting her speed dial, she called Sam, “Meet me at Tucker’s. It’s an emergency...it’s about Danny.”

“Danny?!” Sam exclaimed on the other end of the line.

“Yeah - I...I found him.”

“WHAT! Where? Is he okay? Is he-”

“I don’t know! I’ll explain when I get there! Call Tucker and tell him I’m on my way.”

By the time she arrived, Sam and Tucker were standing nervously by the front door, eyes fixed on the street. As soon as she turned the corner, they ran out to her car - she didn’t bother to park neatly by the curb, just cut the engine and jumped out, thermos in hand.

Immediately Sam and Tucker’s eyes flashed to the familiar object.

Jazz held it out with tears in her eyes, “He’s here.”

Sam and Tucker took it gently out of her hand, holding it like a newborn and staring with wide eyes as she explained.

“Mom and Dad caught him, and they kept it a secret all these years. They still don’t know...I tried to explain but...I just...can you get him out? There’s a special lock.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have this baby open in no time,” Tucker tried to smile with bravado, but his voice was trembling.

They filed inside, Jazz locking the door behind her.

“My parents are gone for the day, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“My parents might be - they really didn’t want me to release Phantom. They might try to stop us.”

Sam pulled an ectogun from her jacket, murder in her eyes, “They can try.”

“Let’s go to my room,” Tucker said, already focused in on the special Fenton lock.

While he sat hunched over at his desk with the thermos, his PDA, his laptop and some wires, Sam and Jazz sat on his bed waiting anxiously.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Jazz asked.

“He’ll be fine,” Sam said firmly, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself than Jazz.

“I mean, when I caught him in the thermos that first time, he seemed really groggy when we let him out. That was only for a few minutes - he’s been in there for years! And he hasn’t eaten anything! But he’s been in his ghost form…”

“Danny is going to be fine, Jazz,” Sam said, this time softer, her hand folding over Jazz’s, “After all Danny’s been through, he’s stronger than this.”

Jazz smiled, “You’re right.”

“And he’s here - you found him! We got him back!” Sam exclaimed, tears filling her eyes.

“Okay - here we go!” Tucker said, spinning around in his chair. In his hands he held the thermos, the lock lay on the desk. 

Sam and Jazz stood, hearts racing.

“Uh… I guess - here we go,” Tucker said, staring back into their eyes. Sam nodded.

Tuck pressed the button - there was a flash of light, a blood-curdling scream, and suddenly Danny Phantom was sprawled on the floor, moaning and coughing.

“Danny!” they all screamed at once, Tucker tossing the thermos behind him to kneel beside his friend.

“Danny...dude...can you hear me?”

Danny moaned and pressed his hands to his ears, eyes squeezed tight shut.

“Turn out the light!” Sam ordered, and Tuck leaped to obey. As soon as the room was dark, Sam whispered.

“Danny. It’s Sam. Can you open your eyes?”

Danny’s eyes fluttered open - that familiar, glowing green - and his lips parted.

“Sam?”

Instantly the rings of light appeared, parting over his body and returning him to his human state.

He collapsed to the ground, gagging. 

He was skin and bones - his eyes sunken and dark, his cheekbones jutting, his lips pale as bone.

He gagged again, and fluid came up - black and bloody, glowing with ectoplasm. He vomited, but only a little of the fluid came out. His arms were trembling from holding his body up, so they grabbed his shoulders and held his hair back as he vomited again. Then suddenly he phased his body intangible, and more of the black goop fell out, spattering across the floor.

“That feels...better,” he muttered, still coughing. 

“Aw dude, that’s nasty,” Tucker’s nose was wrinkled up at the revolting smell. 

“S-sorry,” Danny whispered hoarsely.

They laid him on the bed, his entire starved frame shaking violently.

“Danny, I...oh god, you-” Jazz began several times, but she ended up just burying her face in his hand and crying.

“My skin feels...weird…I feel...dizzy.”

“Do you think you could drink some water?” Sam asked. He nodded, and Tucker ran out of the room. 

“Sam...what’s going on?”

Sam shook her head, not trusting herself to speak lest she end up like Jazz. She had his other hand, brushing it with her fingers incessantly. 

She couldn’t believe Danny was back. In front of her. She was holding his hand. He was alive.

He was fine. Well - actually, he was far from fine, but he was here and whole.

Tucker ran back in with the water, and they helped him get a few sips down. 

“I must have been in the thermos a while this time - I feel like...I ,” he laughed weakly, but everyone else stared back with tears in their eyes, lips quivering.

“Guys?”

“Danny...you have been.”

“What?”

“You’ve been in the thermos for four years.”

Danny squinted at her, as if he hadn’t heard her quite right. 

“My ears are ringing...what?” he rasped.

Just then, someone started pounding at the front door.

“Jazz! Open the door! Sam, Tucker! We know you’re in there!”

Danny winced at the loud sound. 

“Jazz, stay here,” Sam and Tucker immediately fell into ranks and ran downstairs, leaving the two siblings alone.

Danny tried to sit up, but his weak muscles betrayed him. Instead he flopped back on the bed and tried to calm his breathing. His body felt strange, like his consciousness had been removed and thrust into an android that didn’t quite work. His skin felt overly sensitive, everything seemed too loud or too bright, his muscles were quivering and wouldn’t move how he wanted - they felt weak and flabby, like rubber - even his heart seemed to be acting up, like an old car engine trying to start. 

“Jazz…” he rasped - something else that wasn’t working. His voice.

“Danny,” she answered, lifting her head to look into his eyes.

“What was Sam….saying...about the thermos?”

She clutched his hand tighter, and it hurt - but the pain almost felt good. It felt good to feel anything, any physical sensation. To feel his bones shift as she squeezed his fingers, his skin grate against her palm. 

“Mom and Dad didn’t realize...I’m sorry, Danny, I should have told them sooner! I didn’t know...you’ve been missing for four years, Danny.” Jazz whispered, voice catching.

Danny’s mind was still spinning, so it took him a few moments to comprehend what she was saying.

“Well, that explains a lot,” he coughed. It explained why his body wasn’t working right - his muscles were probably atrophied. It explain why he felt like he had been a nebulous cloud for an eternity. It explained why he felt like the walls were closing in on him. Why his skin was covered in cold sweat and he could feel his ribs against his elbows. He remembered being in the thermos, vaguely. It all ran together. 

“What’s that...smell?” 

Her eyes flickered to the floor.

“Uh...you threw up...or something,” she answered, shakily.

He remembered that, too, barely. The pain of being thrown out of the thermos, out of that timeless, weightless, void that was somehow endless and claustrophobic at the same time. Landing on the floor while fireworks went off in his brain, feeling that disgusting pain twisting his insides, just wanting to get it out and to stop hurting.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“You don’t apologize, Danny. Don’t you apologize to me. I should be the one-”   
‘Thanks, Jazz. For getting me out,” he cut off her guilty apology, feeling his vision dim. He was passing out. Or maybe he was dying. He wasn’t really sure.

“Danny? Danny!” he felt her shaking him, and his eyes fluttered open.

He was vaguely aware of the door bursting open and several figures spilling into the room, but then his vision was gone. He heard several people shouting his name. He was pretty sure he could make out his parent’s voices in the mix. He felt Jazz still clutching his hand.

And then he was out - back in the void.

When he woke up again, it was in a dim hospital room surrounded by beeping machines and concerned eyes. 

It was a miracle he was alive, they all said.

They told him to rest. He was safe. He was in good hands.

He went back to the void.

Apparently his human body had continued to function on some level while still in the thermos. He was estimated to have aged two years during the four years he had been trapped inside, which was weird. It was like his body just slowed down all its functions - maybe in an effort to keep him alive and use less energy, maybe because his ghost form hindered his human form’s functions. He wasn’t really sure. All he knew was that he hated going to physical therapy, hanging out with old people all day, feeling weak and fragile. He hated the narrow hallways and the tiny room they kept him in. 

He would have flown off, but he was too weak to walk, let alone fly. And part of him was afraid to go ghost. Afraid his body would dissolve, or that he would get trapped somewhere, unable to escape. Jazz stayed with him constantly, sleeping curled up in the chair or sometimes she would slip into his hospital bed and cuddle with him under the thin sheets. Sam and Tucker came every moment they could, but it was finals week at Casper High, and they were graduating.

Graduating! And he should have been, too. He had missed out on so much. 

His parents didn’t visit for a while. And when they did, their eyes were heavy with guilt and pain.

Danny remembered the night they sucked him into the thermos. He hadn’t even seen them - the attack came from behind. One moment he was lounging in mid-air, taking a nice, pleasant float - the next: cramped darkness.

Their apology was stilted and fearful- Maddie had started sobbing and Jack stood at the end of the bed, clutching the plastic railing with clenched fists and a silent, brooding expression, refusing to meet Danny’s eyes. Which was fine - Danny wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react to them now.

He had always feared being captured and experimented on by his parents, but he had never considered they would capture him in a thermos and just forget about him. Or forget about Phantom, that was. They were overjoyed to have their son back, but they were still reeling from finding out his secret. For now, they didn’t seem to want to rip him apart molecule by molecule, but he couldn’t imagine their relationship going back to normal.

The only one that seemed the same was Jazz. 

Sam and Tucker were seniors, they had big plans for college - they had moved on with their lives.

Not that they weren’t there for him - but he had missed out on four years of their lives. He was two years younger than them - physically. He still felt like a fourteen year old.

But Jazz was the same as always. His caring older sister. Babbling on about psychology and self care. Smiling at him thoughtfully. Helping him without letting him know she was helping him.

It was night now, and she had fallen asleep in her chair, book still open on her lap. 

He lay propped up in the hospital bed, playing with one of the little weights they had left him to exercise with. 

“Jazz?” he called softly. 

She jerked in her sleep, eyes blinking open to find Danny’s in the dark.

“What is it, little brother?”

“So you got your degree in psychology, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” she answered, quietly closing her book.

“So what are you going to do now? Open up your own clinic? Write a book?”

She shrugged, “Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“But you’re leaving soon, aren’t you?”   
“Ah,” she said to herself, understanding his line of questioning now.

“No, not anytime soon. I think I’ll take a break for a while - I graduated early, so I deserve a little vacation, don’t you think?”

He leaned back into his pillow, “Yeah, sounds good to me.”

In another moment, his eyes had fallen shut and his breathing slowed. Once she was certain he was asleep, she crept to his side and kissed his brow.

“Don’t worry, I’m not leaving you behind, little bro.”

She settled back into her chair and pulled the blanket up to her chin before joining Danny in sleep.

  
  
  



End file.
